1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parts feeder, and more particularly to a type for bringing parts to a desired position by means of a retractable parts feed rod.
2. Prior Art
In the prior art, a retractable feed rod is used, and parts holding means comprising a hole and a chuck mechanism is attached to the front end of the rod, a mechanism for temporarily stopping the parts, such as bolts, moved from a parts feeder or the like is disposed on the axial line of the feed rod, the feed rod is advanced toward the thus stopped parts, and the parts are held by holding means and brought to the desired position.
In such prior art apparatus, both accurate positioning of parts on the axial line of the feed rod and temporary stopping of parts securely in a firm state must be realized by a single mechanism on the axial line of the feed rod, the mechanism itself must be presented at a high precision, and if the precision is lowered even slightly, then the holding means of the feed rod and the parts are not engaged correctly, and the parts may drop off or other problems are caused. Moreover, to temporarily stop the parts on the axial line of the feed rod, the space for installation of the temporary stopping mechanism is either extremely restricted, or this mechanism must be positioned far ahead of the front end of the feed rod, so that the entire equipment becomes very long.